527 
Notes  from  Department  of  Foods  and 
Markets 
The  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  State 
Department  of  Foods  and  Markets  is  now  in  print.  It 
contains  information  that  producers  will  want.  For 
copies  of  it  write  Hon.  Thaddeus  C.  Sweet.  Speaker  of 
Assembly,  or  your  own  Senator  or  Assemblyman.  The 
supply  will  be  limited  and  unless  you  make  application 
while  new  copies  may  be  printed,  you  will  not  be  able 
to  secure  them  later. 
APPLES. — Last  week  apples  were  coming  in  in 
rather  liberal  quantities.  Good  quality,  not  to  say 
fancy  Baldwins,  sold  on  the  dock  from  $2.75  to  $2, .25, 
trade  A.  Some  Greenings  are  yet  coming,  and  when 
rood  color  and  fancy,  brought  from  $2.00  to  $3.50:  me- 
d'um  grades  from  $2.75  to  $3.00.  and  common  storage 
from  $2.00  to  $2.25.  In  the  auction  market  Spys  sold 
up  to  $4,  and  Baldwins  up  to  $3.10.  The  demand  at 
the  auction  is  strong  and  good  grades  bring  good 
prices.  Some  of  the  softer  grades  have  been 
leaky,  that  is  to  say  their  own  pressure  in  the  bar¬ 
rel  has  squeezed  the  juice  out  of  the  apple  and  this 
leaks  from  the  barrel.  Some  of  this  stock  was  sold  by 
the  dealers  on  the  docks  through  the  produce  district 
and  some  of  it  was  on  the  auction  market.  It  is  rather 
unusual  to  have  these  soft  varieties  as  late  as  this  in 
the  season,  but  a  good  many  packers  have  handled  ap¬ 
ples  this  season  in  the  hope  of  better  advance.  Real 
good,  sound  and  well  colored  tipples  are  bringing  fair 
prices  now.  but  the  soft  grades,  most  of  which  show 
some  scald  and  rot,  sell  at  proportionate  prices. 
Record  of  the  last  auction  sales  follow : 
APPLES. — 13  bids.  Newtown  $1.55;  4  $1  ;  3  Stark 
$2.75;  1  Seek  $2.60 ;  8  Spy  $2.00;  3  Mann  $2.45;  4 
$2.35:  13  $1.70;  10  Greening  $1.50;  34  $1.45;  17  $1.15; 
1  Ilubbardston  $1.30;  1  Hendrick  Sweet.  $2.15;  10  Bell¬ 
flower  $2.35:  1  $2.50;  3  Pound  Sweet  $2.05;  1  Wag¬ 
oner  $1.30;  1  King  $2.40;  1  Spitz  $1.80;  1  Phoenix 
$1.50;  1  Baldwin  $1.20;  1  $1.85;  2  Fallawater  $2.15;  3 
$1.15;  the  foregoing  all  soft  and  bruised;  17  boxes 
Pomeroy  $1.25;  10  $1.05;  10  Stark  $1.35;  251  Bald¬ 
win  85e:  18  bids.  Tolman  $2.25;  25  Greening  $1.70;  4 
$1.45;  42  Greening  $2.35;  0  $l.SO;  22  King  $3.05;  1 
$2;  17  $2.05;  4  Bolden  Russet  $I.NO;  2  $1.55;  2  Box 
bury  $2.20;  8  $1.85;  4  Spy  $3;  11  $2.20;  0  McIntosh 
$1.05:  2  Ben  Davis  $2.45;  2  $2.35;  20  Rome  Beuutv 
$2.30;  00  $2.35;  30  $2.40;  5  $2.25;  35  Ben  Davis 
$2.35;  14  Spy  $4;  10  King  $1.90;  1  $1.70;  24  Baldwin 
$3.10. 
EGGS. — As  previously  explained,  the  Department  is 
not  selling  eggs  at  auction.  It  is,  however,  .receiving 
increasing  shipments  and  selling  them  through  a  whole¬ 
sale  house  under  the  supervision  of  the  Department. 
The  season  up  to  this  time  has  been  one  of  the  most 
difficult  for  satisfactory  handling  of  eggs,  because  the 
price  has  dropped  steadily  from  05c.  to  from  26c.  to 
29c.  last  week.  If  the  packing  dealers  are  successful  in 
their  efforts,  the  price  will  go  still  a  little  lower.  Their 
evident  purpose  is  to  get  the  price  down  to  about  20c. 
in  the  New  York  market  during  the  storing  season. 
The  bulletins  issued  by  the  Department,  encouraging 
the  consumption  of  eggs  at  this  time  while  they  are  low 
in  (nice,  however,  has  had  the  effect  of  increasing  con¬ 
sumption  and  stiffening,  the  price  to  some  extent,  and 
with  a  continuation  of  this  information  to  both  pro¬ 
ducer  and  consumer,  it  is  hoped  that  the  price  during 
the  packing  season  may  be  maintained  at  a  higher  level 
than  usual  during  the  packing  season  which  extends 
from  the  latter  part  of  March  to  the  middle  of  May. 
If  the  Department  gets  an  appropriation  this  year  to 
develop  the  business,  the  egg  market  will  he  developed 
directly  with  large  consumers,  and  producers  will  have 
a  better  service.  In  the  meantime,  the  wholesale  prices 
are  the  best  that  can  be  secured  and,  of  course,  heu- 
neries  with  a  more  direct  trade  can  do  better  than  the 
wholesale  prices.  The  Department,  under  present  con¬ 
ditions,  is  simply  trying  to  serve  the  interest  of  produc¬ 
ers  who  do  not  have  access  to  a  more  direct  retail  mar¬ 
ket.  Except  for  a  limited  trade,  it  can  only  Secure  the 
wholesale  prices  for  the  present.  The  producer  is.  of 
course,  sure  of  receiving  in  full  whatever  the  goods 
bring.  Sales  during  the  two  weeks  ending  March  16th 
follow. 
EGGS. — 1  case  36c;  33*4  cases  34c;  5  cases  33c; 
11  14  cases  32c;  44  cases  31c;  48 14  cases  30c;  32 R>  cases 
29c;  25  cases  28 14c;  59  cases  28c ;  4  cases  2714c; 
4014  cases  27c;  11  cases  26c;  4  cases  2514c;  2314  cases 
25c;  2  cases  2414c;  7  cases  24c;  9  cases  2314c ;  5  cases 
23c ;  1  case  22c ;  1  case  19c. 
M I  S<  'Ll, LAN  EOT  8. — 0  squabs  $3.75;  10  lbs.  sweet 
butter  20c;  15  lbs.  sweet  butter  26c;  3  squabs  $1  43;  5 
pigs,  308  lbs.,  lie;  1  lamb  $8;  1  bag  beans  10c;  8  bags 
beans  914c;  1  bag  beans,  100  lbs.,  l>J/>o;  3  pigs,  210 
lbs.,  12c;  1  calf.  26  lbs.,  1414c;  1  calf, ‘96  lbs.,  15c;  5 
pigs,  260  lbs.,  12c;  1  coop  of  fowl.  69  lbs..  18c;  4  park- 
ages  butter.  19  lbs..  36c;  2  lambs  10R.e;  1  calf,  86  lbs., 
14c;  6  squabs  $2.50;  1  cult,  88  lbs”  16c;  1  package 
butter,  7  lbs.,  38c;  1  bag  dried  apples  $2.50;  19  boxes 
honey.  450  lbs..  13c;  4  boxes  honey.  96  lbs..  12c ;  20 
boxes  honey,  458  lbs.,  lie;  12  boxes  honey,  286  lbs., 
14c;  9  boxes  honey,  207  lbs.,  lye;  3  lbs.  honey  12c;  1 
box  bouey,  23  lbs..  16c;  1  box  honev.  23  Jhs..  13c;  1 
box  honey,  23  lbs.,_  1214c;  14  boxes  honey,  321  lbs.,  12e; 
8  boxes  honey,  185  lbs.,  lie;  1  box  honey,  24  lbs.,  12c; 
4  boxes  honey,  326  lbs.,  lie;  1  box  honey,  22  lbs.,  15c; 
2  boxes  honey,  48  lbs.,  15c ;  3  boxes  honey,  69  lbs.,  13e ; 
23  cases  A  grade  honey  $3,60;  12  eases  ('  grade  honey 
$3.12;  1  tub  butter.  64  lbs..  28c;  1  tub  butter,  63  lbs., 
31c;  1  coop  ducks,  73  lbs..  20c;  1  calf,  72  lbs.,  14c;  4 
pigs,  226  lbs.,  13c;  2  calves,  167  lbs.,  lye;  1  lamb.  40 
lbs.,  10c;  1  calf,  S2  lbs.,  16c;  1  pig.  61  lbs.,  1214c;  1 
hbl.  nuts,  202  lbs.,  2c;  1  box  poultry,  19  lbs.,  23c;  1 
box  poultry,  24  lbs..  19c;  1  calf.  103  lbs.,  1514c;  2 
baskets  of  beans  $3.00 ;  2  baskets  of  beans  $2.25  •  1  coop 
of  fowl  17c. 
G'/je  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
Another  Case  of  Poor  Packing 
Here  is  a  case  of  poor  apple  packing.  What  is  the 
fair  thing  to  do  about  it?  A  reader  in  New,  Jersey 
sent  us  the  following  letter; 
Last  week  I  purchased  a  barrel  of  apples  from  a 
peddler,  and  upon  opening  them  found  that  the  first 
eight  or  10  inches  were  fine  Baldwin  apples,  but  toward 
the  center  of  the  barrel,  such  a  miserable  lot  of  culls 
I  never  saw  packed  in  a  barrel.  Upon  the  barrel  head 
is  stenciled  “New  York  Standard  Grade,  packed  by 
- ,  N.  Y.  Min.  sl/e  2 Vi  in.  Baldwin  ungraded." 
They  were  shipped  to  a  dealer  here.,  but  whether 
he  is  the  peddler  T  purchased  them  from  I  do  not  know, 
hut  will  find  out  if  I  ever  see  him  again.  Some  of  these 
apples  in  center  of  barrel  were  not  over  one  inrli  in 
diameter  and  gnarled  so  as  to  he  absolutely  worthless 
except  for  cider  apples  or  culls.  I  am  not  seeking  any 
redress,  but  I  believe  any  person  or  concern  packing 
such  apples  should  be  shown  in  their  true  light  and 
The  It.  N.-Y.  can  do  it  better  than  anyone  I  know  of, 
so  shall  leave  i.t  with  you  to  do  as  you  think  best. 
tr.  (i.  FOWLER. 
Mr.  Fowler  did  not  send  us  samples  of  the  apples* 
as  is  usually  done,  so  we  cannot  show  just  how  they 
looked.  Of  course  in  such  a  case  it  is  only  fair  to 
hear  both  sides,  so  we  sent  the  letter  to  the  firm 
whose  name  appeared  on  the  barrel.  It  is  a  well-known 
firm  with  a  good  reputation.  The  following  reply  came 
promptly  : 
Your  letter  enclosing  a  letter  from  II.  G.  Fowler 
has  been  fully  noted.  In  reply  will  say  we  will  tell 
you  all  we  know  about  this  barrel  of  apples  in  ques¬ 
tion.  We  bought  a  lot  of  apples  about  80  ni'.les  from 
hoe  and  sent  two  men  down  to  paek  them.  The  way 
we  bought  them  was  this;  We  bought  all  the  “A” 
grade  to  be  packed  214  inches,  then  from  214  to  214 
to  he  packed  separate  at  such  a  price;  the  smaller  ones 
were  to  be  good  apples  nothing  less  than  214  in., 
but  think  our  men  did  not  do  a  good  job  on  them, 
for  we  had  trouble  with  the  214  in.  There  were  42 
barrels  of  them.  That  is  where  we  trusted  men  to  go 
away  from  home  whore  we  could  not  see  what  was 
being  done. 
On  our  part  there  lias  not  been  the  first  thing  that 
we  have  done  to  deceive  or  get.  away  from  the  law;  we 
have  been  here  in  business  for  49  years  aud  only  intend 
to  do  a  straight  business.  We  have  written  to  .Air. 
Fowler,  and  if  be  wi.ll  let  us  know  how  much  lie  paid 
for  them  we  will  send  him  a  check  for  the  amount. 
If  he  does  much  business  he  must  have  to  trust  to 
some  hired  help  that  do  not  always  do  as  he  tells  them 
to  do. 
Now  what  would  you  do?  Would  you  accept  this 
explanation  and  drop  the  matter,  or  would  you  print 
this  apple  dealer's  name  aud  put  it  on  a  black  list 
for  the  benefit  of  buyers?  Something  must  be  done 
to  stop  this  fool  and  fierce  packing  or  New  York  ap¬ 
ples,  instead  of  those  packed  by  a  few  well-known 
growers,  will  be  shunned  by  the  public.  We  think 
this  'concern  is  honest  and  that  they  tell  a  fair  story, 
but  that  does  not  help  the  reputation  which  goes  with 
such  fruit. 
The  Egg  Situation  :  Coming  Prices 
During  the  first  week  of  March  this  year  the  Carlot 
Poultry  and  Egg  Shippers’  Association  of  Kansas  and 
Missouri  assembled  in  Kansas  City.  This  was  the  an¬ 
nual  meiting  of  the  poultry  and  egg  “trust"  in  the 
United  States.  The  members  come  from  all  the  impor¬ 
tant  egg  producing  and  distributing  centres  in  the 
United  States. 
At  one  time  members  of  this  association  fixed  the  price 
of  eggs,  hut  they  were  distrustful  of  each  other,  and 
hired  W.  B.  TTearst.  with  headquarters  in  Kansas  City, 
to  send  out  the  prices  to  the  buyers  for  all  the  dealers  in 
the  association.  Mr.  Ileurst  directed  all  the  buyers 
what  price  to  pay.  Because  of  the  anti-trust  laws,  it  is 
necessary  for  this  association  to  work  under  cover,  and 
the  price  agreed  upon  this  year  will  not  be  known  by 
the  public  for  some  time  at  best,  and  perhaps  never. 
There  are  probably  six  million  cases  of  eggs  oarrenl 
in  cold  storage  during  the  season.  This  involves  a  finan¬ 
cial  operation  of  practically  forty  million  dollars,  and 
till*  financing  is  taken  care  of  and  consequently  the 
business  controlled  by  a  very  few  of  the  large  dealers 
in  N-w  York,  Chicago  and  Boston  with  necessary  ware¬ 
house  and  hanking  connections.  Advances  of  75  per 
cent,  to  SO  per  cent,  are  usually  made  on  stored  eggs, 
and  in  seasons  when  storage  space  is  plentiful,  prac¬ 
tically  the  full  value  of  the  eggs  is  advanced  to  the 
traders  and  speculators.  This  applies  to  both  storage 
eggs  and  poultry. 
This  year  an  effort  was  made  at  the  convention  to  es¬ 
tablish  a  price  of  IS  cents  per  dozen  at  Chicago  and 
19 Vt  cents  in  New  York  for  carefully  selected  and 
graded  eggs  for  storage.  Ou  this  basis  the  Western 
producer  would  receive  12  cents  to  14  cents  per  dozen. 
The  confidence  of  the  dealer  in  his  ability  to  affect  prices 
is  shown  iu  the  fact  that  at  the  very  time  the  18c.  price 
was  suggested,  the  eggs  were  worth  24c.  a  dozen  in 
Chicago  and  25c.  in  New  York,  by  the  train-loud. 
This  year  they  are  simply  following  the  custom  of 
driving  down  the  price  at  this  time  of  year  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  storing  at  the  lowest  possible  price  in  the  sea¬ 
son  of  best  production.  Their  warehouse  and  banking 
connections  favor  their  manipulation  and  their  virtual 
control,  and  their  association  and  affiliation  with  the 
publishers  of  the  official  price  currents  is  another  help¬ 
ful  factor  in  establishing  the  low  prices  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  storage  season.  In  the  past,  some  of  the  in¬ 
dividuals  controlling  the  price  currents  were  stock¬ 
holders  in  (he  cold  storage  warehouses.  It  is,  of  course, 
apparent  that  dealers,  speculators,  bankers  and  ware¬ 
house  men  will  be  best  served  by  a  low  price  for  eggs 
during  the  next  ninety  days  while  the  eggs  are  being 
stored,  because  the  cheaper  they  buy  now  for  storage, 
the  better  the  profit  for  the  dealer  and  speculator,  and 
the  safer  the  advances  and  investments  of  the  banks 
and  warehouse  men. 
in  this  situation  the  interest  of  the  producer  is  best 
served  by  an  increased  consumption.  Easter  comes  late 
this  year,  and  the  large  consumption  during  the  Lenten 
season  will  help  maintain  prices.  While  during  the 
early  part  of  March  the  wholesale  price  of  fresh  eggs 
brought  as  low  as  21c.  for  Western  and  28c.  to  30c.  on 
State  eggs,  the  retailers  were  maintaining  prices  at  45c. 
to  50c.  per  dozen.  A  bulletin  issued  at  this  time  to  the 
housewives  of  the  city  by  the  New  York  State  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Foods  and  Markets,  quoting  a  fair  retail  price 
for  eggs,  had  the  effect  of  reducing  the  price  to  the  con¬ 
sumer  from  5c.  to  10c.  per  dozen,  and  necessarily  stif- 
fened  the  wholesale  price  to  the  producer  by  the  in¬ 
creased  consumption.  These  conditions  indicate  that  by 
May  1st  there,  will  be  rather  a  lighter  holding  of  eggs 
iu  storage  than  usual  in  the  United  States.  Usually  the 
storage  begins  by  March  15th,  and  by  April  loth  a  good¬ 
ly  quantity  of  eggs  are  held  in  warehouses,  but  with  the 
better  information  ou  the  part  of  producers  and  con¬ 
sumers  this  year  as  issued  by  the  Department,  the 
dealers,  known  as  the  ‘’egg  trust.”  will  hardly  secure  a 
large  surplus  before  the  middle  of  April. 
Cold  storage  chickens  are  held  high  by  the  packing 
interests  that  control  them  this  year,  and  consumers 
are  being  advised  by  the  Department  to  use  eggs  as  a 
substitute  and.  of  course,  the  larger  the  consumption, 
the  better  the  average  price  of  the  year  will  be,  and  it 
looks  at  this  time  as  if  producers  of  eggs  could  be  rea¬ 
sonably  sure  of  a  better  average  price  than  usual  dur¬ 
ing  the  coming  months. 
Iu  the  past,  eggs  have  been  bought  from  5c.  to  10c. 
pee  dozen  in  Oklahoma.  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  sold 
to  consumers  in  New  York  City  at  35c.  to  45c.  per 
dozen.  The  freight  from  Kansas  City  to  New  York  Is 
only  about  2c.  per  dozen,  and  at  10c.  per  dozen  advance 
over  the  producer's  price,  eggs  should  be  delivered  to  the 
consumer  iu  New  York  at  a  reasonable  profit.  With 
the  full  information  given  by  the  Department  both  to 
producers  and  consumers,  we  should  Tiave  this  year  the 
best  and  most  economical  distribution  of  eggs  possible 
in  this  country,  with  satisfactory  prices  to  both  pro¬ 
ducer  and  consumer. 
New  York  State  News 
MORE  AGRICULTURAL  BILLS. — This  session  of 
the  Legislature  seems  unusually  prolific  in  agricultural 
measures.  One  of  these  would  give  the  Commissioner  of 
Agriculture  power  to  appoint  only  two  deputy  commis¬ 
sioners  instead  of  four.  Auother  relating  to  compensa¬ 
tion  for  animals  killed  on  account  of  foot  and  mouth  dis¬ 
ease  or  anthrax  requires  that  the  payment  of  amounts 
due  by  an  appraisal  shall  be  "less  the  amount  paid  or  to 
he  paid  by  the  national  government."  An  entirely  new 
section  is  proposed  in  the  law  relating  to  compensation 
for  animals  killed  by  the  State.  It  becomes  Sec.  99-n. 
“Registry  and  Appraisal  of  Thorough-bred  Bovine  Ani¬ 
mals.”  It  prescribes  the  method  of  registration  and 
manner  of  appraisal  of  thorough-bred  stock  and  limits 
the  appraised  value  to  $300.  Faymetit  by  county  treas¬ 
urers  is  provided  for  when  no  moneys  appropriated  by 
the  State  are  available  for  such  purposes.  In  respect 
to  milk  standards  a  new  section  is  added  to  Chap.  9  of 
the  laws  of  190!*,  which  provides  that  any  person  pro¬ 
ducing  or  selling  milk  may  file  with  the  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture  a  statement  indicating  the  amount  of 
butter  fat  in  the  milk  and  the  maximum  bacterial  con¬ 
tent  of  such  milk,  which  statement  when  filed  shall  con¬ 
stitute  a  guarantee  that  the  milk  so  sold  by  such  person 
will  contain  as  much  butter  fat  as  is  guaranteed  aud 
not  a  greater  bacterial  content  than  therein  stated,  pro¬ 
vided  that  the  amount  of  butter  fat  guaranteed  shall  not 
be  less  th, mu  three  per  centum.  If  upon  examination  the 
milk  is  found  not  to  comply  with  the  guarantee,  it  shall 
be  deemed  a  violation  of  the  agricultural  law.  An- 
1  tiler  bill  provides  for  the  registration,  with  the  Com¬ 
missioner  of  Agriculture,  for  a  designating  mark  for 
milk  cans,  bottles  or  jars,  the  use  of  which  by  another 
is  prohibited  by  the  law. 
M I  SC  ELLA  N  EO  C  S  BILLS.- — By  one  proposed  law 
the  lime  limit  for  unloading  animals  being  transported 
oyer  railways  is  extended  to  28  hours  from  24.  Selling 
disabled  horses  is  prohibited  by  another  bill.  It  is  made 
unlawful  to  sell  by  private  sale  or  at  auction  any  horse 
which  by  reason  of  disability,  disease  or  lameness,  or  for 
any  other  cause,  could  not  be  worked  without  violating 
the  law  against,  cruelty  to  animals.  Exception  is  made 
in  the  case  of  humane  societies  for  the  purpose  of  hu¬ 
manely  killiug  the  animals.  Driving  such  disabled 
horses  is  also  forbidden.  Penalties  attaching  range 
from  $5  to  $100,  or  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  six 
months.  A  new  section  is  proposed  to  the  law  relative 
to  preventing  the  spread  of  insect  posts  and  fungus  dis¬ 
eases,  which  gives  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  the 
power  to  compel  the  destruction  of  trees,  plants  or  other 
vegetation  if  on  examination  it  is  shown  that  this  be 
necessary  to  prevent  the  spread  of  black  knot,  or  to  pre¬ 
vent  a  further  outbreak  of  the  pests  known  as  tent 
caterpillar  or  forest  tent  caterpillar.  Another  measure 
requires  Canada  thistles,  white  and  yellow  daisies, 
devil’s  paint-brush,  wild  carrot,  ragweed,  aud  all  other 
noxious  weeds,  to  la*  out  twice  each  year  by  the  owner 
of  the  land  on  which  they  grow  or  subject  himself  to  a 
penalty  ranging  from  $5  to  $25. 
EXTENDING  STATE  FAIR  GROUNDS.— It  is 
proposed  by  a  bill  soon  to  be  introduced  in  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  to  exchange  canal  land  for  196  acres  of  land  owned 
by  the  Solvay  Process  Company  at  Syracuse  to  be  used 
for  fair  ground  purposes.  It  will  provide  for  automo¬ 
bile  parking  space  iu  two  different  parts  of  tlie 
grounds,  for  horticultural  grounds,  an  athletic  and  mili¬ 
tary  maneuver  and  a  permanent  faun  boys’  camp. 
(  ARE  OF  I  NSANE  COST. — It  appears  from  the  re¬ 
port  ot  the  State  Hospital  Commission  that  the  cost  for 
the  <  are  of  the  insane  of  the  State  last  year  was 
$6,865,385,  The  per  capita  cost  was  $210.89.  There 
were  36,664  patients  under  treatment  of  which  number 
over  34,000  were  cared  for  iu  the  civil  State  hospitals; 
1,351  in  hospitals  for  the  criminally  insane,  and  1005 
in  licensed  private  institutions.  There  was  a  total  of 
7.934  admissions  to  the  civil  hospitals  during  the  year. 
J.  W.  D. 
